Deadline for evacuation of Chander Kunj apartment owners goes unmet

The deadline set for the evacuation of residents of the twin towers of Chander Kunj Army apartments, set for August 31, will not be met as the Army Welfare Housing Organisation (AWHO) has failed to pay advance rent to the apartment owners for alternative accommodation for the period of demolition and reconstruction, as agreed upon.

In an interim order on a writ appeal filed by the apartment owners’ association and a few owners against the February 3 verdict of a Single Bench of the Kerala High Court — which had ordered the demolition and reconstruction of the twin towers on grounds of serious structural problems — and several related review petitions, a Division Bench directed the AWHO to deposit six months’ rent by opening an escrow account in the name of either the District Collector or a person nominated by him by September 3.

“The determination/fixation of rent for all owners shall be subject to the outcome of the writ petition,” the interim order further said. This followed the petitioner’s argument that the judgment under challenge had not accounted for periodic increases in rent for the premises. The Single Bench had raised the rent to be paid by the AWHO to owners until the handing over of the new units — from ₹21,000 and ₹23,000 as originally proposed in the February 3 verdict — to ₹30,000 and ₹35,000 for flats in the B and C towers, respectively. Incidentally, these amounts were still lower than those recommended by a rent committee constituted by the District Collector.

The district administration had been diligently following up on the payment of advance rent even before the Division Bench’s interim relief dated August 27. The District Disaster Management Authority had already issued a notice asking occupants of the towers to evacuate by August 31, which was postponed by a month from the original schedule. Apartment owners made it clear that there was no question of evacuation until the AWHO paid the advance rent for a year.

“A few apartment owners moved out in May last year after the AWHO proposed fortification of the towers. However, they never received the rent as promised. Any disruption in the timeline, starting with evacuation, will have a cascading effect on the proposed demolition, reconstruction, and handing over of new apartments,” said Saji Thomas, president, Chander Kunj Army Apartments Owners Association.

The district committee, with the District Collector as convener, had tentatively set November 9, 2025, for the demolition and October 31, 2029, for handing over the newly built apartments. This was part of an elaborate four-phase plan drawn up for the proposed demolition and reconstruction of the twin towers, starting with the evacuation of affected families from 208 apartments. The committee had also asked the AWHO to release six months’ rent based on the category of the apartment units they held, as decided by the court. The AWHO was initially asked to make the first payment to the apartment owners by June 17, 2025.